At the start of the month it appeared that the impressive form of Daley Sinkgraven had caught the attention of several fond admirers.

The Dutch under-21 international had been exhibiting great form for sc Heerenveen in the Eredivisie and the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Ajax were all believed to be keeping close tabs on his progress.

The midfielder was also catching the eye in England. It was reported by The Mirror that both Manchester United and Liverpool were keen on his signature in January - with a £4 million price-tag mooted.

Both Louis van Gaal and Brendan Rodgers were said to have taken a personal interest in his development - however the Manchester United boss was said to have a better chance of getting him, with his Dutch connection.

The interest apparently grew so strong that the Heerenveen coach begged teams to stay away and let him stay - for his own development.

That is an opinion shared by Gertjan Verbeek. The 52-year-old Heerenveen legend and former manager has told Dutch media that Sinkgraven is not ready to make the move to the Premier League.

"You can see that physically he is still coming up short. He is a boy who has come from the youth ranks to the first team and needs to be replaced at the end of the match because of cramp. When that's the case you're not ready to play football in the Premier League."

There is no doubt that Verbeek is right.

Sinkgraven needs to continue playing regular first-team football, which would not happen at Manchester United. He is also still a long way off from being physically ready to play in the Premier League.

Mathew Nash

I’m Mathew Nash a 27 year old graduate in Sports Studies and I have an insatiable love for sport. With a particularly keen interest for the madcap world of football I have always been known amongst friends as a beacon for bizarre sporting trivia and knowledge. My other passion is for writing and hopefully combining the two will create a superb and entertaining marriage that will create, divide and share opinion.Mathew is a correspondent for the NextGen Series, Ligue 1 and Primeira Liga.